[UPDATE - April 29, 2026] Former ZeniMax Online Studios Studio Head and Founder Matt Firor has now spoken about Project Blackbird, calling it a missed opportunity for Xbox.
[ORIGINAL STORY] After several months of complete silence, former ZeniMax Online Studios founder and studio head Matt Firor (an industry veteran known mainly for Mythic's Dark Age of Camelot and, of course, The Elder Scrolls Online) confirmed that the cancellation of Project Blackbird directly led to his resignation from the company. In a post published on LinkedIn, he also revealed he's not involved in any of the new game projects that have been kicked off by former ZeniMax Online Studios who were laid off as part of the abrupt cancellation of Project Blackbird.
Right off the top - and to answer the most comment question I get - I am not directly involved in any of the projects that have been spun up by former members of the ZOS team. I am advising some of them informally, but I am not leading them. They are in good hands with their respective leaders and I can't wait to see what they come up with.
Answering the second-most common question - about what led my leaving ZOS - the most obvious explanation is the correct one. Project Blackbird was the game I had waited my entire career to create, and having it canceled led to my resignation. My heart and thoughts are always with the impacted team members, many of whom I had worked 20+ years with, and all of whom were the most dedicated, amazingly talented group of developers in the industry.
I cannot express deeply enough my respect and thanks for both the Elder Scrolls Online development team and the players that together comprise the most welcoming, best community in online gaming. I have successfully moved from the first group to the second, and now enjoy the game as an anonymous community member, and it is refreshing and fun. Long may both groups prosper!
Project Blackbird had been in development for over seven years at that point. In November 2022, Creative Director Ben Jones confirmed that the project was based on a new intellectual property and that ZeniMax Online had already assigned around 200 developers to it.
Its cancellation came as part of the latest round of Microsoft-mandated layoffs, with the company making cuts to fund its AI investments. The news became even more disappointing upon learning that the project was actually morphing into a promising game. The Lead Graphics Programmer, Alex Tardif, quickly pointed that out in a public statement, and other reports independently confirmed his assessment. Bloomberg revealed that Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer had enjoyed a playtest in March so much that the controller had to be literally pried from his hands. The reporter, Jason Schreier, watched a video of the vertical slice and was himself impressed.
Later, TrueAchievements added that Project Blackbird was an online third-person sci-fi shooter/action game set on Soteria, a tidally locked exoplanet with three distinct environmental zones: a frozen ice side, a scorched sun-facing side, and a habitable middle region called The Twilight Band. Players would have assumed the role of Revenants, operatives working for various alien syndicates operating across the planet. Missions were cooperative, supporting 4 to 6 players per operation, depending on the scale of the mission. Players earned contracts from the various syndicates they pledged loyalty to, building rank and reputation. The whole game had a sci-fi noir vibe, which sounded very intriguing.
Unfortunately, we'll never get to play it. Hopefully, we will eventually get to play the new game in development at Sackbird Studios, a team founded by some of the Project Blackbird developers after they were laid off.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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